Robert P. Anderson, Department of Biology, City College of New York

Robert P. Anderson, Ph.D.

Undergraduate Ecology and Evolution course

Spring 2007

Biology 22800, Ecology and Evolution

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Course overview and philosophy: Ecology and Evolution examines a spectrum of biological processes, with emphasis on their application to the population and community levels of organization. The course combines conceptual and quantitative approaches to topics including ecology, ecosystems, biogeography, genetics, evolution, and systematics, as these areas apply to populations and communities of organisms. The laboratory is a series of exercises and experiments designed to introduce students to data collection and analysis, including interpretation of laboratory and field experiences. This course will also cover current environmental issues critical to modern society, such as global climate change and conservation biology.

Attendance Policy: Lectures and laboratories begin promptly, and you are required to be on time. Attendance in the laboratory, including field trips, is required. Absence from more than 2 lectures or 2 laboratory periods (including field trips) can result in your being dropped from the course for excessive absences (WU).

Grading: Grades will be assigned based on the lecture (50 %) and laboratory (50 %). If you know that you will miss an exam, contact the instructor as soon as possible so that you can take the exam in advance. Make-up exams will be allowed only for documented excused absences (e.g., death in the family, extreme sickness). Plagiarism will dealt with subject to CCNY policies.

Lecture, based on:
3 equally weighted exams (including final)	40 %
Quizzes	10 %
Laboratory, based on:
Lab exercises and reports	25 %
Lab exams	20 %
Class participation	5 %

Grammar, spelling, and composition: Because scientists must be able to express themselves in written prose, students must use proper spelling, grammar (including punctuation), and composition. Minor errors in spelling and grammar will be marked 10% off, major grammatical errors will lead to a reduction of 30%, and unintelligible sentences will be given no credit. Illegible answers will be given no credit. Paragraphs must be composed of organized, coherent thoughts and include a lead sentence (proper composition). The instructors are available during office hours to answer questions regarding grammar and composition.

Lecture: There will be 2 lecture examinations plus a final exam. Each exam will test material covered in lecture, handouts, and simulations. Lecture will often begin with a quiz.
Laboratory: Each student will be required to hand in 9 short exercises (lab reports). The lowest report will be dropped. Reports are due promptly at the beginning of the next lab (a 10 minute grace period will be given). Late reports turned in during the first hour of lab will have a grade reduction of 10 %. Any report turned in after the first hour of lab will receive an automatic zero. All lab reports must be typed. No reports will be accepted by e-mail. Students who miss lab due to an unexcused absence will receive an automatic zero for that lab report. While some laboratory data will be collected by team efforts, each student is required to submit his or her own reports. There are also 3 field trips, 1 of which is a self-guided tour of selected exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History. The other 2 are to Inwood Hill Park and to Van Cortlandt Park with the laboratory instructor; because we cannot go on outdoor fieldtrips in the dark, these field trips will be on Saturday afternoons in lieu of the regular lab period.

Before each lab, students should read the particular pages of the lab manual assigned for that week.

Support Facilities: The Departmental Resource Center is in Room J-502, and the Computer Facility is in Room J-819. The Mathematics Department computer lab is in R0/511.


Lecture schedule:

Date	Topic	Readings (Krohne)
Wed. 31 Jan.	Levels of organization, niche	pp. 6–10, 14–15, 221–222
Wed. 7 Feb.	Population growth and population structure: geometric, exponential, and logistic growth; life tables	pp. 88–105, 182–185
Wed. 14 Feb.	Species interactions, interspecific competition, predation	pp. 222–223, 234–237, 244–245, 262–268
Wed. 28 Feb.	Community structure, disturbance, succession	pp. 272–279, 287–292, 324–335, 369–372
Wed. 7 Mar.	EXAM 1
Wed. 14 Mar.	Global climate, biomes, biogeochemical cycles	pp. 384–391, 404–419
Wed. 21 Mar.	Species richness and diversity, island biogeography	pp. 296–310
Wed. 28 Mar.	History of evolution, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, fitness, selection	pp. 18–28, handouts (F 1–11)
Wed. 11 Apr.	Genetic drift, molecular evolution	handouts (F 225–233)
Wed. 18 Apr.	EXAM 2
Wed. 25 Apr.	Homology, phylogeny, classification	handouts (F 17–27)
Wed. 2 May	Speciation, macroevolution	handouts (F 353–356, 379–381, 392–394, 83–86)
Wed. 9 May	Comparative biology, historical biogeography: guest scientist	handouts (F 123–128, 429–433)
Wed. 16 May	Global climate change: guest scientists
Finals week (18–25 May)	FINAL EXAM, date to be announced


Laboratory schedule:

Date	Topic	Pages in lab manual
Mon. 29 Jan.	1. Introduction to research in ecology and evolution	none
Mon. 5 Feb.	2. Community analysis (map, sampling)	4–13
Thurs. 15 Feb.	3. Population growth Computer exercise 1 (introduction to Excel) Computer exercise 2 (Populus: exponential/logistic growth)	14–18 72–73
Wed. 21 Feb.	4. Descriptive statistics Computer exercise 3 (sampling, confidence intervals)	67–68 68–69
Mon. 26 Feb.	5. Inferential statistics (t-test)	26–28, 70–71
Sat. 3 Mar.	6. Field trip to Inwood Hill Park (on Saturday; no lab on Mon. 5 Mar.)	31–37
Mon. 12 Mar.	LAB EXAM 1
Mon. 19 Mar.	7. Species distributions Computer exercise 4 (DIVA, modeling distributions)	none
Mon. 26 Mar. (no class)	8. AMNH field trip (go on your own sometime this week; no class on Mon. 26 Mar.)	none
Mon. 16 Apr.	9. Population genetics Computer exercise 5 (selection and drift)	51, 55–56 56
Mon. 23 Apr.	10. Allometry and regression analysis (bones)	78–79
Mon. 30 Apr.	11. Systematics	60–66
Sat. 5 May	12. Field trip to Van Cortlandt Park (on Saturday; no lab on Mon. 7 May)	31–34, 38
Mon. 14 May	LAB FINAL


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Last modified: 26 January 2007 (RPA)